Business Briefs

Posted: Sunday, May 28, 2000

According to Manpower's Third Quarter Employment Outlook Survey, 40 percent of firms in Athens expect their payrolls to increase during the July-September period. Seven percent of employers say fewer workers will be needed and 50 percent intend to stay at current levels. The remaining 3 percent are uncertain.

On a national basis, companies in record numbers will be competing for new employees in most geographic regions, as 35 percent plan staff additions, 5 percent expect reductions, 55 percent anticipate no change and 5 percent are undecided.

ChangeMusic Festset for June 16-18

ChangeMusic Atlanta, the first event in the ChangeMusic Festival, will be held June 16-18 at the Embassy Suites at Centennial Olympic Park. The event, powered by CMJ Network, will cover the effects of technology on music industry professionals, consumers and artists.

ChangeMusic Atlanta will serve as a forum for industry professionals, artists and other interested parties to discuss and debate the issues that continue to arise within the rapidly changing music industry. The festival will include daytime panels, seminars, networking events and small-group sessions. At night, the festival will host performances at local venues.

A merger of CMJ and ChangeMusic.com, the CMJ Network blends CMJ's more than two decades of industry experience with the state-of-the-art assets of ChangeMusic to enable musicians, emerging artists and consumers to use the Internet to discover, promote and distribute music.

For more information about the ChangeMusic Festival series, visit www.CMJ.com/events.

National magazine ranksUniversity Automotive

Athens car sales company University Automotive Group has again been listed among the top 100 auto dealerships in Black Enterprise magazine's annual ranking of the nation's biggest black-owned businesses.

In the Black Enterprise Auto Dealer 100 for the year 2000, University Automotive Group, which sells Ford, Lincoln-Mercury and Mazda, was ranked 29. Last year, the Athens company was slotted at 24. Sales for the past year at University Automotive exceeded $78 million, and the dealership employs 138 people.

The company is owned by Ronnie L. Hill, who bought the dealership in 1991.

Southern writer Richto speak at luncheon

The Athens Area Chamber of Commerce Women in Business Council will feature Southern writer Ronda Rich as the keynote speaker at the third Lynne M. Smith Luncheon on June 7. The luncheon will be held at the Garden Club headquarters at the State Botanical Garden, South Milledge Avenue Extension.

The Luncheon Series was established by AACC Women in Business Council in honor of former AACC Board of Directors member Lynne M. Smith, owner of C&L Business Equipment in Homewood Shopping Center who lost her life in a car accident in April 1999.

Rich is the author of ''What Southern Women Know (That Every Woman Should).'' A former sports reporter, Rich is a well-known speaker on the topics of Southern hospitality, overcoming adversity to achieve your dreams, finding your way in the professional world, Southern cooking, and women in the South.

Tickets are $25 and are available through the Athens Area Chamber of Commerce at (706) 549-6800. For more information call Holly Preston at the Georgia Center for Continuing Education at (706) 542-7193.

Earth Fare citedfor landscaping effort

Athens Five Points grocery store Earth Fare has been awarded the May Beautiful Business Award by The Keep Athens-Clarke County Beautiful Commission.

The landscaping and repairs of the building were accomplished through a partnership between the owners of the property, Sams' Investments, and Earth Fare. The renovation included planting trees and redesigning the parking lot to incorporate flower beds. An assortment of edible and flowering plants adorn these beds, including parsley, cabbage, pansies, snapdragons, hollies and azaleas.

The Keep Athens-Clarke County Beautiful Commission will present a citation to Earth Fare and Charmar Flower and Gift Shop will provide a living plant in recognition of corporate efforts on behalf of the Keep Athens Beautiful community.

Class will coverindependent contractors

The University of Georgia Business Outreach Services/ Small Business Development Center will offer a class titled ''Independent Contractor vs. Employee'' from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. June 2 at the University of Georgia Center for Continuing Education, 1197 S. Lumpkin St.

Instructed by a representative from the Internal Revenue Service, the class will examine the tax considerations for independent contractors and employees that are hired to assist in your business.

Enrollment is $25 and CEU credit is available. To register or for more information call (706) 542-2134.

Athens inclusion onWeb site helps tourism

Athens' status as a travel destination spot will be enhanced by a World Wide Web site being sponsored by the International Association of Convention and Visitors Bureaus.

Official travel information on Athens and 1,000 other cities around the world will be available through the Internet at www.officialtravelinfo.com, and the site links official destination Web sites of convention and visitor bureaus and tourist boards around the world. For Athens, the link will be with the Athens Convention and Visitors Bureau. The Web site will also provide links to The Weather Channel, local newspapers and news agencies.

Ingles stores helpMuscular Dystrophy fight

The Ingles grocery store in Hull raised more than $1,500 through its Shamrock's Against Dystrophy program and helped the Asheville, N.C.-based company contribute $80,605 from all its supermarkets to the Muscular Dystrophy Association.

All of the money is used to help adults and children who are suffering from the neuromuscular disease.

Internet service pointsretirees to Athens area

An Internet Web site that lists attractive communities for retirement has included Athens and Clarke County among its selection of ''outstanding communities.''

The Searchers, a St. Louis, Mo., data research/information company that provides information on areas suitable for people who are retiring, added Athens to its list of 157 different communities across the country.

People who use the service are asked to participate in a self-inventory of their lifestyle preferences, and those priorities are paired with the communities The Searchers list.

Lyndon House winscontractor top award

The Lyndon House Arts Center construction and development project in Athens earned Alpharetta-based commercial general contractor Lusk & Associates Inc. the Build Georgia 2000 Award in its category for the Associated General Contractors awards. The award is presented annually and selected from entries submitted from across Georgia by members from AGC. The architect for the Lyndon House Arts Center was zzzKressCox Associatesxxx of Washington, D.C.

The $4.8 million Lyndon House project is a 5,000-square-foot renovation of a circa 1856 home with a 31,000-square-foot annex that is open to the public by the Athens-Clarke County government. The facility is a visual arts center divided into four major areas to be used by craftsmen and artists.

Georgia Power usersto benefit from refund

The Georgia Public Service Commission announced that Georgia Power Co. will distribute a one-time $78.7 million refund to its customers in June. The refund calculates to about $18 for the average residential bill of $73 a month. All customers who used Georgia Power service as of Dec. 30, 1999, and who are still active at the time of the refund will automatically receive the credit.

The rebate stems from a 1998 rate case that requires Georgia Power to make refunds if earnings rise above a 12.5 percent threshold established by the PSC. In 1999, increased power usage and internal costs controls resulted in Georgia Power's earnings exceeding the threshold.

The initial rate agreement reduced residential and large business base bills by 5.7 percent and small business bills by 13.75 percent in 1999. In January, Georgia Power again reduced based rates to small business customers by another 2.35 percent, bringing the total reduction for this group to 16.1 percent since 1998. The changes represent $286 million in rate relief.

Training program for gas operators offered

Veteran gas operators from across Georgia and newcomers to the gas industry will participate in the Gas Operators Continuing Education Program, which will be offered June 1 and July 18-21 at the University of Georgia for Continuing Education. The program will also be offered in Tifton on June 6-9, and in Macon on June 20-23. The program, sponsored by the Georgia Municipal Association Gas Section in cooperation with the University of Georgia, was designed to address training and regulations for gas operators.

To register or for more information call (706) 542-2134 or (800) 884-1381 or visit the Georgia Center site at www.gactr.uga.edu/conferences/2000/Jun/01/gas/html.